Devices for cutting cigarette tobacco parts off their filter parts are known in the art. Document U.S. Pat. No. 3,404,688 discloses a device for cutting open the elements of so called “double cigarettes” containing a double filter part and two tobacco parts. Such elements are cut open if their tobacco parts have been filled with the tobacco in a faulty manner.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 3,233,613 discloses a device for cutting open both double and regular cigarettes that do not fulfill quality requirements.
The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,291 enables cutting open defective single cigarettes that are not arranged in any orderly manner, i.e. having their filter parts oriented in both possible directions.
Document DE 1106227 presents a device for cutting cigarette tobacco parts off their filter parts, the device requiring an orderly arrangement of the cigarettes with their filters oriented in one direction on the position of a disc knife used for cutting the cigarette parts.
Devices for arranging rod-like waste elements constituting a mixture of various types of elements, i.e. a mixture of both single and double cigarettes as well as separate filter and tobacco parts, are not known in the art.